Endhiran (Robot) Movie Review
One of the things we love about our local library is its amazing audio/visual section. We love to browse through the categories, searching for anything that catches our eyes and, hopefully, find something we consider worth buying for our own collection at home. It's a hit or miss process! When you choose a movie by how the cover looks (especially when the text is in a language you don't even recognise, never mind know!), it's not unusual to find a lot of seriously bad movies.
Sometimes, however, we hit the jackpot.
This movie is from one of those times!
The first time we found it, it was under the name "Robot." It's Tamil name is Endhiran.
I still remember the very first time my daughter and I sat down to watch this. Right from the opening credits, it had me! The opening song, with its fascinating cgi accompanyment, really got my attention - and had me bopping my head to the awesome beat!
Then the story began, and I was entranced by the humour - and by the use of facial hair to illustrate the passage of time! The movie follows a robotics genius who is so obsessed with his work, he ignores all else, including his beautiful fiance. In time, he completes his robot (endhiran), then tries to repair the damage to his relationship.
This was the first time I'd ever seen a genuine Bollywood movie, and I've been hooked ever since. The musical numbers in Endhiran are show-stopping extravaganzas, with elaborate costumes and locations, and music that makes you want to get up and dance along with it! They were clearly labours of love!
Speaking of labours of love, the story continues as the endhiran, named Chitti, begins to interact with the people around him, saving the day many times, while also causing unexpected problems as well. The ultimate goal of our genius scientist, however is to teach Chitti how to feel. Through a stroke of luck - and a bolt of lightning - he succeeds, but with unexpected results.
Of course, we must have our evil antagonist, who manages to get control of Chitti, turning him into a war weapon. His nepharious plans go horribly wrong, unleashing an unstoppable army of Chittis, and it's up to our hero and his beautiful fiance to save the day.
The entire movie is filled with drama, humour, excellent musical numbers and over-the-top action.
This is a movie you will want to watch over and over again! Because the world needs more musical interludes. Especially ones with giant feathers or futuristic robot lions.
One thing I would recommend is to watch it with subtitles. I have a thing against dubs in general, as they are notoriously bad, but also the subtitles translate more accurately than the dubs, so you have a better idea of what's going on.
This is a seriously awesome movie.
